The drainage contribution collected by the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) under the “Wang Amanah Saliran Negeri Pulau Pinang” is not misappropriated for other purposes, but spent to overcome flooding in Penang, state local government, traffic management and flood mitigation committee chairperson Chow Kon Yeow said.

He said the fund was used to finance flood mitigation projects in the state.

For the period between 2008 and 2017, he said, the state executive council committee for flood mitigation had approved expenditure of RM176.9 million for flood mitigation projects in the state, although the collection during the period was only RM131.9 million.

“Besides using funds from the drainage contribution, the state government has also approved RM150 million in the 2017 Budget for implementation of nine flood mitigation projects of high-impact,” he said in a statement yesterday.

According to the auditor-general’s report 2016 Series 1 which was tabled in Parliament last July 31, MPSP did not hand over the collection of its drainage contribution to the State Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID).

It said as of June last year, MPSP was still withholding RM22.09 million.

Chow said the state government, DID and MPSP and the Drainage and Irrigation Department accepted the Auditor-General’s report and instruction had been issued to MPSP to hand over the remaining collection to the State DID before end of the year.

- Bernama